Idaho politician proposes making ‘Atlas Shrugged’ required reading

Kids these days are forced to read 20th century commie classics like, you know, “The Grapes of Wrath,” so why not also force them to read some libertarian classics?

Enter Idaho State Senator John Goedde, who put forth a bill requiring comprehension of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” as a high school graduation requirement according to the Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash.

As it turns out, Sen. Goedde, the Republican chair of the state Senate’s education committee, just wanted to make a point:

“It was a shot over their bow just to let them know that there’s another way to adopt high school graduation requirements,” Goedde said after the meeting. “I don’t intend to schedule a hearing on it.” (read more)

But why Atlas Shurgged? “That’s the book that made my son a Repblican,” Goedde responded.

Required Ayn Rand isn’t that far-fetched, however, in 2011, Bloomberg reported that some 60 colleges and universities began teaching “Atlas Shrugged” as a condition of accepting grant monet from banker John Allison, the former chairman of BB&T Corp.

But Allison puts this way, “It’s really a battle of ideas. If the ideas that made America great aren’t heard, then their influence will be destroyed.”